The Big Bang Theory: The Cornhusker Vortex

The Big Bang Theory offered another twist on the Sheldon character on Monday night: he actually taught Leonard about the game of football. Granted, this was attributable to his upbringing in Texas and not due to his own interests, though it was amusing to see him explain such pedestrian concepts to Leonard, who was having difficulty grasping concepts as simple as the line of scrimmage.

Meanwhile, Raj and Wolowitz had a crisis of friendship, and almost found their ties being severed when Raj became upset with the fact that he could depend upon Wolowitz in important situations due to the latter's obession with women. They make up, however, when Wolowitz declares his devotions and intentions in an hilarious scene and essentially takes Raj out on a date to the park to fly kites. Once there, having felt Wolowitz' commitment and knowing his feelings about the relationship, knowing that he is there for him and has his unconditional love and support, Raj accepts the fact that Wolowitz will never stop chasing women and allows him to continue doing so. So, in a sense, the two have come full circle, though their relationship is now much stronger, deeper, and a tad bit on the romantic side as well.

Returning to Leonard, his experiences with football were unsuccessful, as he learned the game to attempt to fit in with Penny's friends but found himself overcomplicating and overexplaining simple plays; in essence, he made even the ritual of drinking beer and watching sports too cerebral for the common man. Penny and he ultimately came to the conclusion that they belong together, but that they should have separate friends and spend time with their friends separately, as Leonard was relieved to return to his kite fighting and Penny to return to watching sports less awkwardly with her everyman friends. They learned that there needn't be insecurity in spending time apart and having different social groups at times, and that sometimes not wanting to include the other is a matter of differing interests and suitability for the specific event and not an all-out rejection of the entire person.

All in all, a strong episode, though it would be appreciated if Raj were at some point soon to take a more prominent and powerful role in a future episode, as his usage two weeks ago was refreshing and made the program wholly more enjoyable.

Tune in Monday at 9:30 for the episode "The Guitarist Amplification", where Penny and Leonard's argument proves inconvenient to Sheldon.